Kade winced. “I don’t know if it really matters but a lot of them seem very young.”
“How young?”
“I’d guess early to mid-teens,” Kade sighed. “If we have to engage, it’s going to be a goatfuck.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Make sure that the security teams know that they are only to engage in non-lethal force. Wecan’tkill kids, no matter what.”
Kade sighed again, this time seeming relieved. “Will do, boss.”
I watched him walk away before returning to my bedroom to get dressed, stopping long enough to grab my phone and shoot off a quick situation update text to Drey.
As expected, he was already up and the response came almost immediately.
Stick to that plan for now. You have company arriving by nightfall. Every battle won.
Well, crap. Was every one of them determined to make me tear up? I sent back a quick acknowledgement and then dropped another kiss on my sleeping Omega before starting my day.
Julian
I wasn’t intentionally eavesdropping on Chuck and Kade in the hallway, but the curse of better-than-average hearing is that you really can’t pick and choose what you hear. As I dozed in the warm Alpha-scented cocoon of Chuck’s bed, my mind was subconsciously cataloging the details of their discussion. So, when Chuck came back in and dropped a sweet kiss on my head before whispering that he was going to his office to deal with some things, the inner creature that so rarely raised his pointy nose began prodding at me, insisting that I satisfy his curiosity about the situation.
At first, I kept my face buried in the fluffy pillows and ignored the internal poking and pleading. It wasn’t until the begging turned to pouting and that internal voice reminded me that we were healing and should be helping protect our temporary home that I heaved a sigh and allowed my eyes to drift open.
Giving in, I yawned and stretched, sliding out of the bed and stripping off my boxers. Opening the window, I popped the screen free and re-closed the window partway, leaving only enough space for my animal self to pop through. Then with another yawn, I stretched and relaxed as my limbs began to shorten in some places, elongating in others until the sleepy man had been replaced with a much different and more alert critter.
Slipping out the window into the still-dark dawn, I crept through the shadows, pausing when two men passed so close to me that the breeze they created may my whiskers flutter. My sharp eyes didn’t miss the massive werewolf following them, hidden from them in the same shadows I was cloaked in.
“Where are they keeping it?” One of the humans spoke to the other, his voice tight with frustration. “All these damn sheds and crap and still nothing!”
“Keep your voice down,” the second human hissed. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s hidden. We should look inside instead of just peeking through the windows.”
I felt my head angle as my creature tried to sus out exactly what the two humans were hoping to find. I gave a mental shrug, assuring him that I wasn’t picking up anything that he was missing. Reaching for the handle of the door, the first human whistled under his breath, seeming to have seen the logic in his companion’s volume warning.
“This one is unlocked! Let’s go in!”
In the shadows, the werewolf moved closer but still held back, waiting to see what they did next, I assumed. Creeping closer to the open doorway, I peered into the darkness and saw that the second human had carelessly leaned his rifle against the wall in favor of a flashlight as he rifled through a pile of what appeared to be old flotation devices and patio furniture.
No!I snapped silently, knowing it was too late when I was already creeping silently toward the resting weapon.
Within seconds, I was trotting out the way I’d come in, the rifle gripped gingerly in my teeth and my paw pads silent against the concrete of the floor. Stepping out into the darkness, I stopped in front of the security guard and carefully laid the rife at his feet before trotting back off into the dawn, leaving the startled werewolf staring after me.
You’re going to cause Chuck trouble doing crap like that,I warned my inner brat, rolling my eyes when all he did was chuckle in return.
You heard Chuck say not to engage the humans,I pointed out, only to be blown off with a reminder that thewerewolveswere told not to engage the human, no one said anything about me.
That just brought on another sigh. I mean, technically, he wasn’twrong,but the trickster was entirely too good at tweaking situations to suit his defenses.
Sighing to myself, I accepted that unless I wanted a battle, there was no point in making a fuss, so instead I settled back to see what else the explorations were going to bring.
By the time the sun was creeping up over the horizon, my critter had managed to relieve various other groups of humans of three more guns – one rifle and two handguns- and three large knives, each with ornately carved handles and long, wicked-looking curved blades. Each new acquisition was left at the feet of the confused werewolf responsible for tailing the group I’d lifted it from, something that amused my inner brat entirely too much.
Creeping back in through the window, I slipped the screen back into place and padded into the bathroom. A hot shower washed away the dirt and other debris left from my predawn adventure and by the time I stepped back into the bedroom with a towel tied around my waist, Chuck was relaxing in the bedside chair and a fresh cup of coffee was steaming on the nightstand.
“Morning,” Chuck’s deep voice was warm and soft. “You sleep okay?”
“Yup,” I sighed, taking a gulp of the hot, life-giving coffee. “So good, thank you.”
Chuck smiled and reached one big hand out to tug me closer to his chair. “It’s not cold pizza but I did what I could,” he teased lightly.
